Sandiganbayan biased when it issued freeze order, Revilla claims

Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. said the Sandiganbayan was apparently biased when it issued the temporary freeze order on his assets worth P224.5 million believed to be part of his loot in the pork barrel scam.

In his reply to the prosecution’s opposition to his motion for reconsideration, Revilla’s lawyers said the antigraft court’s First Division acted in excess of its jurisdiction when it granted the writ for garnishment because forfeiture of alleged ill-gotten wealth is not the proper civil action for recovery of civil liability arising from plunder.

Revilla, detained for plunder at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center, also claimed the court seemed to show prejudice against him as if he is already guilty of the crime.

“Worse, the levying of Senator Revilla’s supposed ill-gotten wealth for possible forfeiture afterwards amounts to no less than a blatant prejudgment of guilt without affording him his constitutional right to due process,” the reply said

His lawyers also said a writ of attachment for garnishment which seeks to secure Revilla’s assets cannot be allowed because the detained senator is not yet convicted of the crime.

“The plunder law only allows forfeiture, if and only after conviction… The issuance of a writ of preliminary attachment – a premature declaration of ill-gotten wealth – amounts to a penalty under the plunder law,” according to the reply.

Revilla had filed a motion for reconsideration on the court’s order for garnishment, saying the writ, which prevents him from disposing his assets while he faces trial for plunder, is premature.